Palestinian police search for Israeli Arab producer for CNN

Palestinian police search for Israeli Arab producer for CNN
kidnapped at gunpoint in Gaza City

Ibrahim Barzak
Associated Press/Gaza City

Palestinian police were searching on Tuesday for an Israeli Arab
producer for CNN who was kidnapped at gunpoint from his van, and
the TV network joined journalists' associations in demanding his
immediate release.

It was not clear whether the kidnapping signaled a new
practice by Palestinian militants -- perhaps an attempt to copy
Iraqi insurgents who have snatched dozens of foreigners -- or
whether the producer, Riad Ali, was taken for personal reasons.

In the West Bank, troops shot dead a Palestinian in the Jenin
refugee camp, local hospital staff said. Camp residents said the
man, Baleh Bilalu, 46, had a history of mental illness and was
wandering in the dark in a section of the camp under military
curfew when soldiers shot him.

The army said the man was climbing a fence surrounding an army
position and when he refused several calls to halt, troops opened
fire.

The motive of Monday evening's kidnapping of the CNN producer
was not clear. By midday on Tuesday, the kidnappers had still
made no public statement or demand, and Palestinian militant
factions denied involvement.

In four years of fighting with Israel, militant groups have
carried out scores of suicide bombings and shooting attacks, but
have refrained from kidnapping non-Palestinians as a way of
extracting concessions from Israel.

Ali had been singled out by the kidnappers, and there was
speculation someone had a personal grudge against him. Militants
might also have opened a new front by targeting an Israeli
journalist following the assassination of a Hamas leader in Syria
on Sunday. Israeli security sources have acknowledged involvement
in the killing, and Hamas, weakened after a string of killings of
its leaders, has vowed revenge.

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurie on Tuesday said
authorities were working hard for Ali's release and urged the
kidnappers to free him. "It is wrong and criminal. It must be
ended," Qurie said. "What will be achieved?"

Witnesses said an old-model Peugeot 504 carrying gunmen
stopped a CNN van outside a supermarket late on Monday in Gaza
City's Rimal neighborhood, close to the Ramattan Studios that
provide services to foreign TV companies.

CNN correspondent Ben Wedeman said three armed men walked up
to the van, asked for Ali and took him away. Wedeman, a second
American and their Palestinian driver were left alone, he said.

CNN said in a statement it had not heard from the abductors.
The network, along with the Foreign Press Association and the
Palestinian Journalists Association, demanded his immediate
release.

Israeli Arab journalist Rafik Halabi, who supervised Ali when
he worked at Israel TV, said Ali has not been harmed.

"What I understand, what I know, is that Riad, my good friend
and colleague, is alive and well," Halabi told Army Radio,
refusing to elaborate. The radio station said contact had been
made with the kidnappers, but gave no further details.

During four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, foreign and
Israeli Arab journalists have felt relatively safe in Gaza. In
one of the few incidents of violence against foreign journalists,
Palestinians attempted to kidnap a New York Times correspondent
last May, but the reporter escaped.

However, Gaza has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months
amid growing discontent with the weakened Palestinian Authority
and ahead of a planned Israeli withdrawal from the area next
year.

Palestinian gunmen in Gaza have seized several foreign aid
workers and local officials in recent months, but released them
after a few hours, often under pressure from their leaders.
Tensions have escalated since Sunday's car bombing in Damascus
that killed a Hamas leader.

After Monday's kidnapping, two police cars were parked outside
Ramattan Studios and police stopped several Peugeot cars similar
to those used by the kidnappers. Police were searching for Ali,
security officials said.

The Israeli military closed the main crossing from Israel into
Gaza, used by Palestinians, diplomats and reporters, "following
security assessments and security alerts." The military would not
say if the decision was tied to the kidnapping.